£20m deals for JD Sports Fashion

Retailer JD Sports Fashion splashed out nearly £20m on another shopping trip today with deals that saw it bag eight Cecil Gee menswear stores in the UK and a majority stake in a Spanish sportswear chain. Bury-based JD has acquired the business and assets of the Cecil Gee stores, brand name and stock from Moss Bros Group for £1.7m.

Retailer JD Sports Fashion splashed out nearly £20m on another shopping trip today with deals that saw it bag eight Cecil Gee menswear stores in the UK and a majority stake in a Spanish sportswear chain.

Bury-based JD has acquired the business and assets of the Cecil Gee stores, brand name and stock from Moss Bros Group for £1.7m.

JD said it intends to continue trading from the stores – which lost £500,000 in the year to January 29 – and enhance their fashion offer.

One remaining branch of Cecil Gee has been retained by Moss Bros and will be converted to a new format Moss store. The group said the disposal to JD was in line with its strategy of focusing on the core Moss business.

JD also announced it has invested £17.7m for a 50.1 per cent stake in a new subsidiary which has bought Sprinter, a retailer with 47 stores in Spain, mainly in Andalucia and Levante.

Sprinter was established in 1981 and is based in Elche, near Alicante. It sells footwear, clothing, accessories and equipment for a wide range of sports as well as lifestyle casual clothes and childrenswear.

It was founded by the Segarra family, which will share the remaining 49.9 per cent of the newly-formed subsidiary, JD Sprinter, with the Bernad family, an investor in the Spanish retailer for 15 years.

JD said Sprinter turned over £70.7m in 2009 and made pre-tax profits of £1.86m.

It added that Sprinter’s experienced management team and infrastructure give JD the opportunity to expand its retail presence in Spain and to distribute its own and licensed brands there.

Peter Cowgill, executive chairman of JD, said the chain would look to start opening shops in key Spanish cities later in the year or early next, targeting Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Murcia, Valencia and other locations.

He added: "We are very pleased to announce these two acquisitions which both result from our strategy of selectively expanding our European retail presence and increasing our exposure to a broader portfolio of premium brands.

"We look forward to working with the very experienced and knowledgeable management team and bringing our own expertise to bear as we continue to develop JD’s presence in Europe.

"At the same time, the acquisition of the Cecil Gee stores provides us with a low-risk springboard for the development of a well-funded profitable premium brand fashion chain."

Today’s deals follow a series of acquisitions by JD of British fashion labels and retailers.